If the Swedish legal pursuit of Julian Assange is, as he seems to suggest, part of an assault on WikiLeaks, why doesn’t he simply separate himself from the organisation for a while

Beckett, Charlie

LSE Research Online

“WikiLeaks, c’est moi”2012-8-24Why Doesn’t Julian Assange Leave WikiLeaks?blogs.lse.ac.uk /polis/2012/08/24/why-doesnt-julian-assange-leave-wikileaks/If the Swedish legal pursuit of Julian Assange is, ashe seems to suggest, part of an assault on WikiLeaks, whydoesn’t he simply separate himself from the organisation for awhile?WikiLeaks has millions of supporters around the world, a teamof journalists/technicians, and collaborators in both globalmainstream media and in alternative networks such asAnonymous. Surely they can keep up the good work whileAssange deals with his personal legal difficulties?That way it can get back to revealing secrets instead ofdemanding that international legal systems be changed to suitone individual making speeches from the balcony of theEcuadorean embassy.It’s a stupid question of course. But the answers to it tell us a lot about the current Problem With WikiLeaks.In my generally supportive book about the significance of WikiLeaks I identify sustainability as the key issue for itsfuture. Not just survival against all those wishing its demise, but what form it might take to prevent implosion orincreasing irrelevance.Personality VehicleThe least favourite option that I listed was that it remains a personality vehicle for Julian Assange supported bypeople from the Oppositionalist Tendency. This is exactly where it now is.  It’s a very comfortable place to be butgenerally it is also a lonely and ineffective location for a campaigning media group. That’s why he teamed up withthe people from the Guardian etc in the first place. However, I fear, there is no escape while its founder, moving spiritand domineering presence remains painted into this corner of his own making.The fact that WikiLeaks can’t operate without Julian Assange marks it out from just about every other significantmedia, political and advocacy organisation that I can think of. It’s another indication of how un-political Assange is, inthe sense that he does not seem capable of building alliances, creating capacity or evolving a successful tacticalapproach to any of his challenges.WikiLeaks was an extraordinary achievement, largely of Assange’s making*, and its continuation is remarkable. Yet,its brief period as a consensus-shaker working both with and against the Establishment is apparently over. Thatstunning 12 months when the New York Times, Der Speigel and The Guardian put their resources behind WikiLeaksdisclosures seems like a long time ago.Liberal Insult‘Liberal’ is now an insult used by WikiLeaks supporters. Many of them seem to inhabit a Manichean universe whereyou are either for or against WikiLeaks and Assange. [If you don’t believe that, then please give me a reference to aquote from Assange or any WikiLeaks staffers where they have admitted any fault or accepted any criticism whileengaged in a real debate] In this version of reality all their troubles are sourced to the American administration andtheir lackies.1/2I’m not going to get into an argument about whether the sex crime allegations are all part of a plot to closeWikiLeaks down. I really don’t think they are, but even if they were there is no reason for that legal process to stopWikiLeaks if it was a healthy organisation. It isn’t.In fact, the Swedish Scenario allows WikiLeaks’ core supporters to equate Assange’s own freedom with WikiLeaks’survival.  Yet, as I said before, surely an organisation that is such a threat to American power is strong enough tosurvive without one 41 year-old Australian computer geek/global visionary at the helm for a while?Real PoliticsWikiLeaks/Assange needs this conspiracy theory to justify its own failure to adapt to the real politics of the world asit is. This is a world according to Assange where Russia and Ecuador are preferred partners and where Sweden isseen as a human rights abuser and lapdog of US Imperialism.OK, I know I am hopelessly naïve, but how can anyone who read the diplomatic cables that WikiLeaks themselvesrevealed to the world really think that? Yes, the US does evil things and has selfish, destructive policies in manyareas. The UK government hasn’t covered itself in glory by trying to browbeat the Ecuadoreans either. But funnilyenough, US diplomatic officials, at least according to their Cables, still seem to think that the main underlyingprinciples of policy are freedom and human rights.If someone publishes a vast swathe of your secret information then as a state you are obliged to go after them withthe usual means – even the more shadowy ones such as a Grand Jury. But I am sure more intelligent figures in theState Department realise that any over-zealous pursuit of WikiLeaks will backfire in terms of American interests.Soap OperaMeanwhile, a highly promising media initiative that could have developed as a model for all kinds of investigativejournalism is reduced to a soap opera where Leftists are reduced to the most baroque fantasies of power thatinclude denigrating feminism.Technically, there probably is no alternative for Assange between staying  in the Ecuadorean embassy and facingthe Swedish legal process. But his real choice is between increasing irrelevance and credibility. Leaders of realcourage make the choices that put themselves at risk because they have faith in their cause. By resisting dueprocess Assange is showing the opposite to everyone but his most committed supporters.[*Though without Bradley Manning, where would it be?][NB WikiLeaks is not, of course, the only leaks website. In many ways John Young’s Cryptome was a precursor. As Imention in my book he even worked briefly with Assange although he ended up denouncing it before anyone elsehad a chance to. Cryptome is still going, albeit on a smaller scale, with a much lower profile and in a much more‘traditional’ isolationist/Leftist/purist vein. Some interesting links from Young here  [HT @TomWatson]]  Copyright © 2014 London School of Economics and Political Science2/2

Why doesn’t Julian Assange leave WikiLeaks?

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